You Woman of Paper and Gold!

After finishing the meal, Lu Xiaobei packed up the leftovers and put them in a plastic bag.

"Let's rest here for a while?"

She looked at the shimmering light on the canal and smiled, "When I have nothing to do, I like to sit here and watch the ships come and go."

"Oh?"

I used to watch cargo ships by the Suzhou canal when I was a child, so I didn't refuse and watched with her for a while.

"Ding Han."

After a heavy cargo ship passed by on the canal, ripples lapped against both banks. Lu Xiaobei watched, somewhat entranced, and said, "Do you think the waves in the water now are the same waves from a second ago?"

"No, they aren't."

I said calmly, "The pattern of the waves follows the 'potential' in the water. Each wave rises with the potential, but the waves are different every second. It's like that saying, 'Talented people emerge in successive generations, each dominating for a time.' History is a stage, constantly replaying entrances and exits."

"That's so profound..."

She glanced at me, "I think you're just showing off."

I chuckled.

"Actually, I really like the idiom 'cleaving waves and cutting through the surf'."

Lu Xiaobei clasped her hands under her chin, her bright eyes fixed on the ships in the canal, and said, "No matter if the waves in front of us are the same as before, as long as we cleave through them and forge ahead, we won't keep looking back at all the ugliness of the past."

"That's a good way to show off..."

I lightly clapped my hands.

"..."

Lu Xiaobei glared at me indignantly.

"What did you learn from our market research at Fengyun Internet Cafe this morning?" I asked.

"Nothing, I was too busy playing Bubble Bobble."

"..."

I was speechless. I couldn't rely on her for anything.

"Let's go, we still have two more internet cafes to check out."

"Okay!"

In the afternoon, the two of them mysteriously infiltrated the second target of their market research, Thunder Internet Cafe, an internet cafe that primarily featured MU Online.

Lu Xiaobei rented a machine and calmly observed everything around her.

I, on the other hand, wandered around for a bit before finally sitting down beside her and lowering my voice, "It's currently 2:30 PM, which is considered peak internet usage time. However, less than a third of the people at Thunder Internet Cafe are playing MU Online. I saw quite a few people playing Digimon World, and the newly popular Fantasy Westward Journey. Coincidentally, our internet cafe doesn't have these two games on its server. I'll add them as soon as we get back."

"Okay!"

Lu Xiaobei nodded heavily, her beautiful eyes full of light.

"By the way."

I frowned, "How has your income from setting up a stall in the Old City been these past few days?"

"So-so. Sometimes I don't sell a single thing all day, not even enough to cover the cost of lunch," she said with a helpless expression. "Do you think people have changed? Are tourists harder to fool these days..."

"Damn it..."

I almost spat out blood, unable to retort, "Who exactly has changed?"

Then, I looked at her and said seriously, "For the development of our Feiyang Internet Cafe, I think you need to rein yourself in. You can't just wander around like a vagrant anymore. When business is slow during the day, you should sit at the internet cafe and rent a machine. You're so beautiful, just your presence will attract quite a few people to come online."

"Really?"

Lu Xiaobei seemed pleased, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling, "You think I'm beautiful too, right?"

I nodded in pain, "Yes..."

Indulging her arrogance was my original sin.

Lu Xiaobei seemed overjoyed, narrowing her eyes and smiling at me.

Shortly after, Lu Xiaobei and I finished our market research at the third internet cafe, Jisu Internet Cafe, which specialized in CS shooter games. Before sunset, the two of them sat by the canal again, enjoying the scenery and summarizing their market research findings.

"Actually, the business strategies of the other three internet cafes are also very rigid. Their only advantages are having more machines and better machine configurations than ours. I think it's only a matter of time before we surpass them."

"Mhm, mhm!"

Lu Xiaobei nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining.

"You need to go to the game CD wholesale market."

I glanced at her and continued, "Buy more promotional posters for popular games like Audition, Legend, MU Online, and CS. Then, clean up the advertisements on our outer glass windows and put up the posters. We need to create a gaming atmosphere. You know, they say details determine success. Don't be lazy about things that can be easily done."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Lu Xiaobei nodded again, "Ding Han, I've discovered you're really amazing... Your understanding of market research is much deeper than mine."

"It's alright. I'm just good at thinking."

"What do we want for dinner? My treat."

"Does this count as company expenses?"

"Yes!"

"Then, is eating hot pot too much?"

"Yes!"

"Then let's stick to bento boxes."

"Okay~~"

Time passed day by day.

The wait for Fengyun Internet Cafe's computer usage rate to increase felt incredibly long, like waiting for flowers to bloom. It was a market incubation process, something that couldn't be rushed.

But Lu Xiaobei had indeed changed a lot. She spent most of her daytime hours at the internet cafe, starting to blend in with the crowd. She even added some of the customers as friends and joined them for lively games of Audition!

Seven days later.

Around 8 PM.

Fengyun Internet Cafe was almost packed. I arrived early and, along with Lu Xiaobei, witnessed the peak hour with less than 10% idle machines. The entire internet cafe was completely full, not a single free computer in sight – it was booming!

Just then, a ding-dong sound rang in my ears. The previous quest was complete!

[Congratulations, you have completed the daily quest [Operational Goal] (Rank B)! You have received a reward: +120,000 character experience and an additional reward: [Instance Crystal - Green Scrap Yard] (Rare ★★)!]

Clink!

A rhombus-shaped, dark gold crystal dropped into my Dimensional Storage Space!

I was overjoyed. Another instance crystal! My luck was amazing!

"Lu Xiaobei."

I turned around and looked at the beautiful boss behind me. "I'm a bit tired today. Will you cover the late shift with me tonight? I'll take the first half, you take the second half?"

"Oh?"

Lu Xiaobei asked with a hint of confusion, "Haven't you been resting well lately?"

"I sleep at the internet cafe every day. Do you think I've had a good rest any day?"

"That's true."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll stay with you."

So, after starting the overnight package, I slept for a bit before being woken up by Lu Xiaobei at 4 AM. She started managing the servers, and I ate a bowl of instant noodles before going back to sleep, fully rested, all for the sake of using the new instance crystal the next day.

Instance crystals only lose value when kept. Using them to convert into personal level and combat power is the true way to play. Just like Old K said, to play a game well, you must learn to snowball. Players who can't snowball are never true experts.

The next morning.

Lu Xiaobei personally bought breakfast. After eating, I made an excuse to go out for a walk and left the internet cafe.

In the Old City district, I activated the instance crystal.

Swish—

On the game map, a small golden dot began to flash. Its location wasn't too far, about two li away.

When I sprinted over, I was stunned. A dungeon portal, resembling surging stars, had appeared on the railing by the canal. If I wanted to enter the dungeon, it looked like I had to jump into the river.

I glanced around, confirming there were no surveillance cameras nearby, and the closest ones wouldn't capture this spot. I also made sure no one else was around, to avoid any awkward situations like an old man rushing out shouting, "Young man, don't do anything rash!"

With everything confirmed, I suddenly leaped into the dungeon portal!

Rustle...

Stumbling slightly, I appeared inside the dungeon map. A series of notification bells rang in my ears—

[Please note, you have activated the dungeon [Green Scrap Yard] (Rare ★★)!]

[You have entered the map: Mysterious Abandoned Open-air Mechanical Graveyard in the Wilderness!]

[Objective: Destroy the "Rumble Bang Bang Bang" rocket vehicle modified by Goblin Scavengers!]

[Hint: Beware of the rocket vehicle, it deals devastating damage!]

Squeak squeak~~~

As I was navigating the map and familiarizing myself with the environment, blood bars appeared in the grass ahead. Then, gray-brown bugs appeared in my vision. They were covered in thick carapaces, their antennae twitching wildly, and they had already been attracted to me.

Wild Burrow Worm, Level 20, Normal Monster.

These monsters had low attack and defense, and only 1000 HP. However, their level was high, a full 20. For my current level, this meant fighting monsters 4 levels higher, granting at least a 20% experience bonus. The cost-effectiveness was extremely high, allowing me to gain the most experience with the least ammo consumption and equipment wear. It was quite good.

The next moment, at least a dozen Wild Burrow Worms charged towards me!

I immediately switched my main weapon to the Roarer and began spraying bullets wildly at the group of worms. Bullets flew out in a dense barrage. With so many monsters, I didn't dare to be careless or think about saving ammo. After quickly emptying three magazines, I had finally cleared most of the Wild Burrow Worms. As the remaining five low-HP worms closed in, I switched to my Sword Specialization!

"Bang!"

A sword strike, Essence surging!

Ground Spike Slash!

In an instant, a dense cluster of sharp spikes erupted from the ground in a fan shape ahead, dealing high damage to a group of Wild Burrow Worms!

"553!"

"548!"

"527!"

"555!"

Dense damage numbers popped up, and the remaining few Wild Burrow Worms instantly perished, squeaking and turning into experience light that flew into my body. This feeling of madly absorbing experience points was quite fulfilling. Unfortunately, now that my level is high, leveling from 16 to 17 requires even 500,000 experience points, so the path to leveling up is extremely long, and I can only accumulate it slowly.

After clearing the wave of Wild Burrow Worms, I didn't carelessly advance. Instead, I sat in place, refilled all my magazines, and only then began to move forward to continue conquering the instance.

"Beep!"

A WeChat message arrived from Zhang Ruolin: "Ding Han, what are you doing? Want to go out for drinks tonight? Xiao Bai and I found a pretty good bar; the live band is quite interesting. If you come late, Xiao Bai and I might both get hit on, and you'll regret it so much!"

I was speechless for a moment.

Then I took out my phone, took a picture of the scene inside the instance, and sent it to her with a dog emoji.

"Damn..."

Zhang Ruolin sent back a shocked emoji: "Next time you have an Instance Crystal, remember to bring me along to share some experience... I can pay to join your party!"

"You keep drinking, you decadent woman!"

"..."

Zhang Ruolin was speechless, then sent a trembling kitten emoji.